Pell to appear before Vic abuse inquiry

AUSTRALIA'S most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, will appear before a Victorian child abuse inquiry.

Cardinal Pell, the archbishop of Sydney, and Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart will give evidence to the parliamentary inquiry's next public hearings later this month.

They welcomed the opportunity to appear before the inquiry, a statement from the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne said.

Cardinal Pell and Archbishop Hart had been consistent in their support for the inquiry and remain committed to the church's full co-operation with the inquiry, the statement added.

Archbishop Hart will appear at the inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other non-government organisations on May 20.

Cardinal Pell, who was archbishop of Melbourne from 1996 until 2001, will appear on May 27.

Cardinal Pell in his Christmas message apologised to those who suffered at the hands of priests, saying he was "deeply sorry" for the hurt that had occurred.

But he did not specifically mention allegations of child sex abuse by members of the clergy, only those who "suffered at the hands" of fellow Christians, Christian officials, priests and religious teachers.

Former Catholic priest Michael Parer, who served as a priest in the Melbourne diocese, has told the inquiry most Victorian bishops have withheld evidence from child abuse investigations.

In evidence given to the inquiry in March but suppressed until this week, Mr Parer said bishops should be held accountable to the same laws as everyone else.

"Bishops today are citizens, and they are under the law. Many, most, have withheld evidence in criminal cases," he told the inquiry.

"They have perverted the course of justice.

"They have failed to see that they are holding criminal evidence and they are obstructing the course of justice by not making that evidence available to the police."

The inquiry has heard that former Ballarat Bishop Ronald Mulkearns was aware of child abuse accusations against pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale but moved him to a different parish.

The Christian Brothers have admitted to the inquiry that two brothers were not reported to police when child abuse allegations surfaced.

Mr Parer said he knew of 21 admitted pedophiles among the 445 seminarians he had studied with at Melbourne's Corpus Christi College in the 1950s.